


Why You Should Read Victor Hugo's Works : An Essay

by ItWasIDio



Category: Les Misérables - All Media Types
Genre: "Plots thicker than Nicki Minaj", Essays, For a Friend, Gen, I'm Sorry Victor Hugo, The Author Regrets Everything
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-15
Updated: 2017-04-15
Packaged: 2018-10-19 02:15:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 884
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10630053
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ItWasIDio/pseuds/ItWasIDio
Summary: I wrote this for a friend, and it worked. The title explains it, but it's basically a ten paragraph essay that I wrote in about an hour talking about how great Victor Hugo's writing is, and I'm sorry.





	

Sit down for a dingly-dang moment and hear me out, or read me out, on why good, old Victor Hugo should be read, revered, and totally deserved those two million people at his funeral. Yes, that's right, two million. Now, Victor Hugo was an exile, author, Taylor Swift look-alike, and total daddy material back in his day. He wrote classics such as Notre-Dame de Paris (Javert's Dad Was A Hunchback : The Novel), The Brick, and some obscure poetry. He also knew a thing or two about art, and was almost Beyonce-level woke. The works of Victor Hugo are well-esteemed in the literature world, enriching if you're interested in French sewer systems, and have plots thicker than Nicki Minaj.

One thing Old Man Hugo was famous for, and there were lots of things he was famous for, was his symbolism. Every character in the novels he wrote represented an aspect of humanity. For instance, Jean Valjean represented the inner irredeemable thief within us all. Perhaps the most symbolic, and important, of these characters would be the candlesticks. Given to Jean Valjean as a gift from a bishop, these candlesticks would go on to become the main character and, along with stealing the limelight, would also steal our hearts in their empowering tale of hardships and overcoming strife.  
As silver candlesticks, these candlesticks were the best candlesticks. They were almost left behind at first, but soon Jean Valjean and the candlesticks were inseparable. They were together as Jean Valjean became honest, as he became a mayor, a father, a revolutionary, and even a corpse. The candlesticks, throughout all of this, were like a light in his miserable and bread-less life. They represented the hope that's always within reach, but only if we're willing to reach out and find it.

Of course, besides the candlesticks, certain things mentioned above need to be addressed in this essay. That would be Victor Hugo's take on the sewers of Paris. The only reason they're relevant to the story would be because Jean Valjean tried to escape from the June Rebellion with Marius through them. They were successful, but that's a story for another day. The entire part that takes place in those sewers is actually shorter than the description itself, but cut Hugo some slack. He probably did hours of research on those sewers, and it shows. As a crucial part of the plot, the sewers of Paris were beautifully described and totally not worth skimming over despite their complete lack of benefit to the plot.

NOW LET'S TALK ABOUT SOMETHING I HOLD NEAR AND DEAR TO MY HEART : THE CHARACTERS. THE CHARACTERS, OOOOOHHHHH BOI THOSE CHARACTERS. THOSE DYNAMICS, THAT DEVELOPMENT, THE DESCRIPTIONS. THE CHARACTERS ARE GODLY, I'M TELLING YOU. FOR SOME REASON, PEOPLE DON'T LIKE COSETTE. BUT, SHE HAS AMAZING CHARACTER AND PEOPLE JUST DON'T CARE AND DON'T SEE HOW WONDERFULLY IMPORTANT SHE IS. THE THENARDIERS SUCK BUT THEIR KIDS ARE BEAUTIFUL AND SWEET AND WELL-DEVELOPED AND MOSTLY DEAD. EVEN THE CHARACTERS WHO ONLY APPEAR FOR LIKE TWO PARAGRAPHS ARE THOROUGH AND SO REALISTIC. I LOVE ALL OF THESE CHARACTERS SO MUCH, THEIR CONFLICTS AND STRUGGLES TRULY COME ALIVE.

Moving on, then, the most important aspect of reading Hugo's works would be having a box of tissues close by for any unexpected tearing up of the eyes. This is because the books were originally written using onion juices on slices of raw onion. It's perfectly normal to bawl your eyes out on certain pages. Perfectly normal to sob with every word, and to learn how to simultaneously read and cry while going through his works. Don't feel ashamed if you do.

I will know prove my point of all the empowering moments within Les Miserables by opening up to a random page within it and carefully analyzing the text. ...It would seem I've opened to a particularly devastating moment in the book, and moments like these are likely where the name of the book originates from, for everyone in it is fully miserable. I shall resist recounting the events, for fear of spoiling an amazing part and making my dear reader teary-eyed. Instead, I will hand-select a safe page without any moment worth tearing up over. ... It would seem I cannot find one, so instead you will have to read through and cry on your own accord.

Victor Hugo, as a total legend back in his day, often liked to go on long rants about completely irrelevant things to whatever he had been previously writing about. For instance, he could go from talking about a daring escape to talking about how convents work for quite a few pages. This transition to the convent leaves readers wondering what happened to the escapees, and why they need to know about a big house of nuns. Of course, it soon becomes relevant and then the reader's all like, "Ooooooooh, okay. But what about the people who were escaping?" Then, those people escape to the convent, and eventually have to escape from the convent to get back into the convent. Luckily, their chance arrives when an old nun dies, and one of them gets buried alive thanks to the man who he saved the life of repaying the favor…

Moving on once more, read about Victor Hugo.

Read stuff by Victor Hugo, too.


End file.
